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It seems like, in America at least, around 1900-1980 or was the age of the of the Entrepenur. In that time, you had great minds like Edison,Tesla, JP Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and many others rise to prominence. Not only did much of their success depend on their singular vision and their own genius, but they were ambitious in the extreme; Never letting failure stop them; It only emboldened them further. But in many ways, beyond being successful businessmen, they also sought to improve society, to use their wealth, power and influence to improve this country and the lives of those less well off. See, for example, Disney himself, or Rockefeller.

It just seems like we don't have any of those singular, visionary, genius minds anymore; We don't have any Edison's or Walt Disney's anymore. It seems that in general, our society was a lot more decent than--even businessmen were more decent, and politicians too.

Where has this visionary, genius, giving spirit gone? Where are the Walt Disneys and Thomas Edison's of our time?

It takes time for a new business and industry to take off, Gates, Jobs and any other Computer industry took a good 20 years before the computer really took off as a home use item (and the ready availability of the internet). I'm confident that the next "big industrialist" is in the works now.

I believe the Entrepreneural spirit is just more (for lack of a better word) democratized. Individuals have gained a greater share of the economic decision making in this nation with the general collapse of the unions and middle class manufacturing jobs. People who are not willing to accept mediocrity or dependency have grabbed the reigns of their own economic freedom.

Perhaps what I mean is, the demise of big personalities in business. Rockefeller, Morgan, Disney, Gates, Jobs. All of these men are/were their companies in small--They were the ''face'' of their company; Their own personality shaped that of their company's. The guys you posted above--I have no idea who they are.

Perhaps what I mean is, the demise of big personalities in business. Rockefeller, Morgan, Disney, Gates, Jobs. All of these men are/were their companies in small--They were the ''face'' of their company; Their own personality shaped that of their company's. The guys you posted above--I have no idea who they are.

Ever heard of Facebook or Google? I would submit that you might want to get up to speed before arriving at such judgments, CITM.

Last edited by Articulate_Ape; 03-25-2011 at 12:19 PM.

"The efforts of the government alone will never be enough. In the end the people must choose and the people must help themselves" ~ JFK; from his famous inauguration speech (What Democrats sounded like before today's neo-Liberals hijacked that party)

Ever heard of Facebook or Google? I would submit that you might want to get up to speed before arriving at such judgments, CITM.

I believe those are the pics I posted. :D

Originally Posted by CaughtintheMiddle1990

Perhaps what I mean is, the demise of big personalities in business. Rockefeller, Morgan, Disney, Gates, Jobs. All of these men are/were their companies in small--They were the ''face'' of their company; Their own personality shaped that of their company's. The guys you posted above--I have no idea who they are.

Yeah. The first guy I posted is a nobody. That's why they made a movie about him.

And big personalities? Are you unfamiliar with a man named Donald Trump?

The American Left: Where everything is politics and politics is everything.

It seems like, in America at least, around 1900-1980 or was the age of the of the Entrepenur. In that time, you had great minds like Edison,Tesla, JP Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and many others rise to prominence. Not only did much of their success depend on their singular vision and their own genius, but they were ambitious in the extreme; Never letting failure stop them; It only emboldened them further. But in many ways, beyond being successful businessmen, they also sought to improve society, to use their wealth, power and influence to improve this country and the lives of those less well off. See, for example, Disney himself, or Rockefeller.

It just seems like we don't have any of those singular, visionary, genius minds anymore; We don't have any Edison's or Walt Disney's anymore. It seems that in general, our society was a lot more decent than--even businessmen were more decent, and politicians too.

Where has this visionary, genius, giving spirit gone? Where are the Walt Disneys and Thomas Edison's of our time?

Actually, the first 4 that you named gained most of their prominence before the 1900's began.
I would argue that none of them would have gone nearly as far today as they did during their time simply because government regulations of one sort or another would never allow what they did way back then to happen today.
In the case of Edison, Tesla and Rockefeller, they would not have stood a chance against the EPA, OSHA and a host of other federal bureaucratic agencies.
JP would have never been able to consolidate the businesses he did with current anti-trust, finance and banking laws.

Many of today's entrepreneurs stake their claim in areas the government had or has not yet seized control.
That is how Gates and Jobs were able to make their fortunes because when they started, they hit where the government wasn't.
When (not if) the government decides to seize control of or otherwise regulate the Internet and create more legislation regarding starting dot coms, social networking sites, sales over the internet, etc, the multimillionaire entrepreneurs will fall even farther.

The government is more concerned with equal results and equal outcomes than it is success and will do whatever it deems its powers to be to guarantee the former at the expense of the later.

The robber barons for all their faults, actually built something, mined something, brought something to market. Steel, coal, railroads, oil. Like farmers and fishermen, they basically take something from the earth and either make it useable or make it accessible.

And what is Facebook? A replacement for Myspace. Another business that runs on advertising. Yes, newspapers and TV shows run on advertising, but I don't normally think of them in the class with Nestle, Ford, Sony, Apple, Toyota, Microsoft.

When AOL became a monster and bought Time, we saw the rise of a new tool and way of sending mail. When AOL stock skyrocketed, we said we wished we had bought it, like Xerox. But was the public reaction to the rumors of the Facebook sale the same? Not around my world. IN my world, people sort of shook their heads, like "For what?"

You get to the point where you want to know how much of your cost as a consumer goes to pointlessly and endless advertise the product you are buying. You start to wonder if money actually has any value when an internet "social networking site" is valued more than an actual industrial producer.